Vertically adjustable shower head

ABSTRACT

A device allowing for the vertical adjustment of a shower head to a plurality of elevations to accommodate substantially all heights of individuals, including children, and having a housing covered by a face plate with an elongated opening for movement of the shower head therealong, there being an open flexible showerslide loop curved back on itself within the housing slidably mounted on a track mounted on the cover plate for closing and sealing the opening therein, the shower-slide carrying a mounting block having a conventional shower head mounted on its outside face and connected to a flexible hose coiled within the housing, said hose being combined with a helical spring which constantly urges the hose to a tightly coiled position to allow for extension without kinking thereof, the hose being connected to a suitable water supply source outside of the housing.

United States Patent [191 Wright 1 1 June 5, 1973 [54] VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE SHOWER HEAD [76] Inventor: Roy L. Wright, 3572 W. Ly ndale Avenue, Chicago, 111. 60647 [22] Filed: July 8, 1971 [21] App]. No.: 160,821

[52] US. Cl. ..239/588, 4/145, 239/208, 239/282 [51] Int. Cl. ....A47k 3/22 [58 Field of Search ..239/208, 281, 282,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,616,466 11/1971 Davis ..4/145 3,005,995 10/1961 Bickford.... ..4/145 1,447,243 3/1923 George ..74/235 2,905,194 9/1959 Smith et al.... 239/281 X 2,685,093 8/1954 Lunoquist ..4/145 3,048,851 8/1962 Bickford ..4/145 Primary ExaminerAllen N. Knowles Ai i e -K91 9 1)?!-Ib m Attorney-Charles W. Rummler and William A. Snow [57] ABSTRACT A device allowing for the vertical adjustment of a shower head to a plurality of elevations to accommodate substantially all heights of individuals, including children, and having a housing covered by a face plate with an elongated opening for movement of the shower head therealong, there being an open flexible shower-slide loop curved back on itself within the housing slidably mounted on a track mounted on the cover plate for closing and sealing the opening therein, the shower-slide carrying a mounting block having a conventional shower head mounted on its outside face and connected to a flexible hose coiled within the housing, said hose being combined with a helical spring which constantly urges the hose to a tightly coiled position to allow for extension without kinking thereof, the hose being connected to a suitable water supply source outside of the housing.

3 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEUJUH 51m 3.737.107

l/VVE/VTOR. ROY L. WRIGHT VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE SHOWER HEAD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to vertically slidable shower head devices adjustable to a multiplicity of elevations. Normally, in a residential home with a family where there are adults and growing children of all ages and height, the family shower head is fixed to the shower stall wall at an elevation which will adequately cover the tallest person. This shower head is much too high for the small members of the family and therein lies the difficulty.

Although it is not new to provide means for supporting a shower head vertically slidable upon the wall of a shower stall while supplying it with water through a flexible hose, there is still room for improvement upon the art to which this invention belongs.

The most important reference of the prior art may be the Lundquist US. Pat. No. 2,685,093 which claims a vertically adjustable shower head construction for mounting in sliding adjustment along a slot in the shower wall, which slot is normally closed by a flexible strap. In this patent, the fixture which supports the shower head has a side inlet for connection of a hose which hangs downwardly from the top of the shower fixture toward the bottom thereof where it loops upwardly for connection to the shiftable shower head. The running arrangement of the shower head on the flexible screening strip, which functions mainly to support the shower head in whatever position to which it might be set, also functions to close the slot along which the shower head fixture runs. This vertically adjustable shower head construction suffers, however, from the disadvantage that the flexible screening strip is not in positive engagement with the mounting plate so that there is no effective water seal or barrier to the entry of water into the housing of the unit.

Another pertinent patent is the Daniel US. Pat. No. 2,496,520, which shows a vertically adjustable shower head construction having a connector mounted on a rather stiff slide plate which, in turn, is slidably mounted in a tongue-and-groove relation on a facing plate which, in turn, is fixed in an opening in the shower wall. While this construction does provide a seal to the entry of water within the housing of the unit, the amount of vertical adjustment of the'shower head is quite limited because the slide plate must be long enough to close the slide opening along which the shower head is adjusted, whether the shower head is at the bottom or top.

In all prior art cases, a looping length of flexible hose is used for water connection to the slidable shower head without adequate provision of means to prevent kinking or entanglement ofthe hose as the shower head is moved up and down for height adjustment.

It is to overcome these and other difficulties that the present invention is intended.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION wholly contained within the housing with the front part of the loop sliding over and closing the aperture in the cover plate sealing it from the entry of water into the interior of the housing. The slidable shower head is connected to a water supply pipe at the upper part of the housing by means of a coiled flexible hose or tube combined with a helical spring which constantly urges the hose to a tightly coiled position above the shower head wholly within the housing and free of entanglement therein.

The gist of the invention lies in the flexible strap or band-like carrier, slidably engaging a track mounted on the opposed vertical edges of the aperture in the cover of a housing and curved back on itself wholly within the housing for supporting the shower head and sealing it from the entry of water therein, in combination with and partially supported by a coiled hose and spring combination for constantly urging the hose to tightly coiled position in the housing wholly above the shower head at all positions of the shower head along its slide.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A specific embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view affording an interior view of a bathroom shower stall showing a vertically sliding shower head constructed in accord with the invention installed therein;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the vertically sliding shower head apparatus constructed in accord with this invention and showing the aperture in the front cover platewith the flexible shower slide therein mounting the shower head attachment;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side viewof the vertically sliding shower head apparatus showing the shower head mounted on the flexible shower slide and the coiled water supply hose suspended from the upper part of the unit housing;

FIG. 4 is a fragmented side view showing details of construction of a segmented shower slide which may be employed with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view, as on line 5-5 of FIG. 3 and line 5-5 of FIG. 4, showing a construction of the slide block for mounting the shower head and having opposed edges for slidably engaging the opposed twin tracks on the housing cover plate;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the articulated shower slide segments as taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 3 and line 6-6 of FIG. 4, showing the segment legs and the ears contiguous for pivotal connection to the adjacent segments;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the construction of the articulated shower slide segments adjacent to the segment of FIG. 6 as taken on line 7-7 of FIG. 3 and line 7--7 of FIG. 4 and showing the ears of the segment of FIG. 6 for pivotal connection thereto; and

FIG. 8 is a side view of the coiled hose and helical spring combination.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in FIGS. 1 through 3, the elongated sliding shower head assembly 10, having a front cover plate 11 with a mounting flange I2 slidably carrying a shower head 13, with a range of adjustability of shower head elevation H, is installed recessed in the wall 14 of a shower stall 15 and is secured thereto by conventional fasteners not shown. Housing 16 enclosing the shower head assembly has a back 17, a top 18, a bottom 19, opposed side walls and a removably mounted cover plate 11 having an aperture 22. Aperture 22 has opposed inner edges 24 parallel with the opposed vertical side walls 20 of housing 16.

Opposed inner edges 24 are uniformly spaced and provide guide tracks for a flexible shower slide 21 comprising segments 26, 26a, etc., and a block 23 having a face plate 28 for carrying the shower head 13, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The flexible shower slide 21, having opposed outer edges 28', 28a, etc., at a width greater than the spacing of inner edges 24 of the aperture 22 and overlapped by these edges on the inner side, forms outside flanges guided by opposed twin tracks 30, as shown in FIGS. 5 through 7. As shown in FIG. 4, the flexible shower slide 21 is comprised of segments 26, 26a, 26b, 260, etc., pivotally connected at adjacent ends and forming an open loop operating as a flexible band, as shown in FIG. 3. The outside of the flexible band is wholly contained within housing 16 and confined therein by track 30 to slide its front side against the inside of cover plate 11 on the front and against the inside of housing back 17 on the back. Track 30 is of continuous loop configuration having semi-circular ends 30 shown in FIG. 3.

Opposed straight members 24' are mounted along the inside of edges 24 of cover plate 11 in a conventional manner adjacent to but not displaced from said edges 24 to form the straight opposed twin tracks 30 mounted on the front of the assembly 10, as shown in FIG. 5. Twin tracks 30 slidably engage and guide the edges 28', 28a, etc., of the flexible shower slide 21 in the vertical adjustment of shower head 13. Segment 26 is of a length in engagement with tracks 30 in the direction of sliding sufficient to stabilize and support the overhanging weight of the shower head 13 by the engagement of opposed edges 28' slidably mounted in the opposed tracks 30.

Segment 26a adjacent and pivotally connected to segment 26 has substantially the same length in the direction of sliding as does the segment 26. The adjacent ends of segments 26 and 26a, 26a and 26b, 26b and 260, etc., substantially abut when engaged in grooves 30. Adjacent ends of segments 26 and 26a are pivotally connected by twin opposed ears 27a contiguous with but outwardly offset from the segment sides 26a of segment 26a and overlapping sides 26' of segment 26, as shown in FIG. 4. Mounted on the opposite end of the segment 26a are twin opposed ears 27a contiguous with but outwardly offset from the segment sides 26a of segment 26a overlapping the sides 26b of the adjacent segment 26b. The cars 27a and 27a have twin opposed pivot pins 29 and 29a, shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, mounted thereon extending into pivot holes in legs 26' and 26b adjacent the end of segment 26 and segment 2612, respectively. The segment 26a mounts face plate 28a, as shown in FIG. 6, having opposed edges 28a, again at a width greater than the spacing of aperture edges 24. The opposed members 24' of FIG. 5 which form the twin tracks 30 again provide the guide track for the sliding engagement of the opposed edges 28a of segment 26 in the vertical adjustment of the shower head 13.

The other end of the segment 26b is pivotally connected to next adjacent segment 260 by twin opposed ears 270 which are contiguous with but outwardly offset from the segment sides 26c of segment 26c to overlap the sides 26b of the next adjacent segment 26b, as shown in FIG. 7. Ears 27c have twin opposed pivot pins 29!. mounted therein extending into pivot holes in the sides 26b adjacent the end of the segment 26b forming the pivotal connection between the segment 26b and segment 26c. In the same manner as before, the segment 26b mounts a face plate 28b, as shown in FIG. 7, having opposed edges 28b slidably engaged in opposed twin tracks 30.

The segments 26, 26a, 26b, 266, etc., are thus pivotally connected end-to-end in that sequence forming an open articulated loop 25, as shown in FIG. 3, each segment of which has opposed twin edges 28, 28a, 28b, 28c, etc., slidably engaging in the opposed tracks 30 along the edges 24 of aperture 22 of cover plate 11.

Opposed straight members 24" are mounted along the inside of the back 17 of housing 16 in a conventional manner to form the straight opposed twin tracks 30" mounted on the back of assembly 10 for slidably engaging the segments 26, 26a, 26b, etc., along the inside of back 17 as shown in FIG. 7. Opposed semicircular members 24" contained within and adjacent to the top and bottom of housing 16 are mounted to the ends of straight members 24' on the front cover plate 1] of assembly 10 and to the ends of straight members 24" on the back 17 thereof to form the closed-loop twin tracks 30' wholly within the housing 16 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6.

The hose coil 32 shown in FIG. 3 supplies water under pressure to the shower head 13 from an intake end which is in fluid communication with a coupling 34 on a water pipe 36 shown in FIG. 2. Hose coupling 34 extends inwardly from the side wall 20 at a point subadjacent to the top 18 of the housing 16. The hose coil 32 has a flexible hose 32a in structural connection with a helical spring 32b, as shown in FIG. 8, and is in fluid communication at its outlet end with the coupling 34 on the shower head pipe 13 and at its intake end with coupling 34 on water pipe 36, and is positioned so that the hose coil 32 is always urged to a tight coiled position by the helical spring 32b above the face plate 28 for carrying the shower head 13.

It will be understood that the shower slide 21-may be of other form than the articulated segmented slide herein shown and may comprise a flexible band or strip of stainless steel or other suitable single piece metal or plastic strip and that the slide track arrangement shown may be of any other suitable form that will substantially close and seal the front opening or aperture 22. 7

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention has been herein shown and described, it will be understood that the details of construction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A vertically sliding shower head assembly comprisa ing a housing having a top and bottom and a removable cover plate with an elongate aperture therein having vertical opposed inner edges, each of said opposed inner edges including a slide track means extending therealong and curved back on itself wholly within said housing adjacent said top and bottom, a shower head mounted in said aperture for sliding movement along said track means, a flat flexible band-like means extending in each vertical direction from said shower head and having opposed margins slidably engaged in said slide track means against the inside of the cover plate, said band-like means being of a length sufficient to close said aperture regardless of the vertical position of said shower head and of a width greater than the spacing of the inner edges of the aperture to seal said aperture along its vertical length, a water inlet pipe connected to said shower head from inside said housing, and an extensible hose means in fluid communication with the inlet pipe inside of said housing and leading from a source of water supply mounted subadjacent the top of said housing, said hose being disposed in said housing entirely above said shower head.

portion of said housing. 

1. A vertically sliding shower head assembly comprising a housing having a top and bottom and a removable cover plate with an elongate aperture therein having vertical opposed inner edges, each of said opposed inner edges including a slide track means extending therealong and curved back on itself wholly within said housing adjacent said top and bottom, a shower head mounted in said aperture for sliding movement along said track means, a flat flexible band-like means extending in each vertical direction from said shower head and having opposed margins slidably engaged in said slide track means against the inside of the cover plate, said band-like means being of a length sufficient to close said aperture regardless of the vertical position of said shower head and of a width greater than the spacing of the inner edges of the aperture to seal said aperture along its vertical length, a water inlet pipe connected to said shower head from inside said housing, and an extensible hose means in fluid communication with the inlet pipe inside of said housing and leading from a source of water supply mounted subadjacent the top of said housing, said hose being disposEd in said housing entirely above said shower head.
 2. In the vertically sliding shower head of claim 1 wherein the hose means comprises a helical spring structurally connected to the hose and constantly supporting the shower head at all positions along its slide track.
 3. In the vertically sliding shower head of claim 1 wherein the hose means comprises a coiled hose structurally connected to a helical spring for constantly urging the hose to a tightly coiled position in the upper portion of said housing. 